Oral treatment holds promise for MS
The drug reduced lesions associated with MS
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Friday, 20, Jun 2008 11:57
A new oral treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown promise in improving the condition in trials, a report says today.
Current medication has to be injected so an oral drug would help patients in terms of convenience.
MS is a disease of the central nervous system that predominantly affects areas responsible for transmitting messages in the body.
Researchers at the University Vita-Salute, Italy, found that the new drug laquinimod reduced lesions associated with MS and was well tolerated.
They studied 306 patients aged 18 to 50 who had recently suffered a relapse.
Laquinimod was given to 204 people at either a 0.3mg or 06mg daily and 102 were given a placebo (dummy drug).
Writing in the Lancet, the researchers say that compared with placebo, 0.6mg of laqunimod per day resulted in a 40.4 per cent reduction of the mean number of lesions.
But 0.3mg of laquinimod per day showed no statistically significant effects compared to the placebo.
Both doses of laquinimod were well tolerated, with only two serious but reversible adverse events connected with the drug, but with no clinical consequences.
"Overall, the efficacy and safety profile emerging from this and from a previous phase two clinical trial, in combination with the oral route of administration, make laquinimod a promising therapeutic opportunity for patients with relapse remitting multiple sclerosis," the researchers conclude.
"The benefits and risks of laquinimod treatment are now being further assessed in a large-scale phase three trial."